Police Officer Involved Domestic Violence.
Lighting a candle of remembrance for those who've lost their lives to domestic violence behind the blue wall, for strength and wisdom to those still there, and a non-ending prayer for those who thought they had escaped but can't stop being afraid.

Custom Search

Friday, October 9, 2009

[MA] Lt. Moynihan accused of PUNCHING girlfriend in the head 3 times and pushing her daughter into a wall

...The woman said she was punched and choked by the officer after he pushed her daughter into a wall... [Lt. Cheryl] Claprood said she arrived at the woman’s home to find broken kitchen chairs on the floor...

Lt. Moynihan was KNOCKED OUT last year in a fight with a MALE officer. He's not so hot man-to-man. He was formerly accused of BITING a student. Is that how you make arrests? And the Chief's office doesn't seem to know the status of that case, OR how Moynihan was handled while this same girlfriend had a restraining order against him. Maybe it's time to pull all the info together. To Moyihan's lawyer, who says punching the girlfriend is a "personal matter," - read a book. It is absolutely a public matter because if he is found to be guilty - aside from being held accountable for the crimes - he should not be an officer with a city issued weapon and the powers of arrest over citizens more principled and self-controlled than himself.

SPRINGFIELD POLICE LT. ROBERT MOYNIHAN CHARGED WITH ASSAULTING FORMER GIRLFRIEND, DAUGHTERThe Republican - MassLive.comBy Buffy SpencerOctober 08, 2009, 6:10PM[Excerpts] A veteran lieutenant faces a Police Department internal investigation in connection with charges he assaulted a onetime girlfriend and her 13-year-old daughter during a domestic dispute at the woman’s home earlier this week. The 36-year veteran of the force, Lt. Robert P. Moynihan, 58, of Springfield, pleaded innocent on Thursday in District Court to three counts of assault and battery... The woman, who told investigators she and Moynihan had dated off and on over the past seven years, reported the lieutenant became enraged when she used his cell phone to call his son... The woman said she was punched and choked by the officer after he pushed her daughter into a wall, according to the reports. Police documents also show that Moynihan was the subject of a restraining order brought by the woman some time ago but which had expired. Moynihan, who left the woman’s home before officers arrived in response to her call for assistance, appeared voluntarily in court. He has been relieved of his service weapon and was immediately placed on desk duty pending his prosecution, according to police officials. Judge William M. Boyle released Moynihan on his personal recognizance with orders to surrender his firearm and remain away from the woman and her daughter... The lieutenant’s lawyer, Michael O. Jennings, said, “It’s early on in the proceedings. These are complex factual situations, and we have to let the matter take its course for a while. This man has given over 30 years to the Springfield Police Department, and he is a dedicated, well-respected officer,” Jennings said. “Whatever this personal matter involves, we’ll just have to wait and see.” Sgt. John M. Delaney, aide to Commissioner William J. Fitchet, said Fitchet called for an investigation by the department’s internal investigations unit. Moynihan will be assigned to desk duty pending the investigation and his prosecution. He’ll be serving desk duty at the same time as a patrolman, Derek V. Cook, who was charged more than 18 months ago for attacking Moynihan and a sergeant in a station-house brawl... In a police report on the domestic case, Lt. Cheryl C. Claprood, of the special victims unit, said the 46-year-old woman had had a previous restraining order against Moynihan but it had expired. Claprood said she arrived at the woman’s home to find broken kitchen chairs on the floor. The woman and her daughter declined medical treatment; the woman reported “not hearing properly” from one ear, and the daughter had a “slight mark on her left shoulder.” In her statement to police, the woman said she had met Moynihan when she worked at an establishment in the South End. “He has never left me alone since we started dating years ago. It’s more of a sickness. I see Bob now about three times a month and talk to him once in a while,” she wrote. “He has stalked me.” The woman said she slapped Moynihan in the face after he pushed her daughter. Moynihan then punched the woman three times in the head, with at least one blow in her left ear... The departmental policy when a restraining order is filed against an officer calls for the officer to turn in his weapon and be assigned to desk duty pending an investigation. Delaney said the policy is enforced “100 percent of the time.” Delaney said he is certain Moynihan was taken off the street when the original restraining order was issued in 2004, but did not know for how long. The lieutenant may have been allowed to resume normal duties when the order expired, or sooner, depending on the outcome of the department’s investigation. In 2001, Moynihan was the subject of an investigation after a Springfield College student filed a complaint charging that Moynihan bit him in an altercation outside of a party... The outcome of that investigation was not immediately available... [Full article here][police officer, officer-involved, domestic violence, law enforcement, masaachusetts, state]